Orange County Korean Restaurant, Krave Asian Fusion, is expanding with a second location planned for 2022. Known for their Korean Fried Chicken, aka “KFC”, they have lots of new flavors waiting for their Carlsbad audience.
Executive Chef and Owner Will Chen told What Now San Diego that after seeing success even through the pandemic, the restaurant was looking to expand and found another hot market to do so in North County. “Carlsbad sounded like an ideal place for us,” says Chen.
The restaurant has been nominated for the Golden Foodie Awards and was named the Best Fried Chicken by OC Weekly. Hot menu items include the Loaded Koji Fries, which are crispy fries topped with marinated beef in asian spices, cheese sauce, scallions, and jalapenos. Their Garlic Noodles are extremely popular. Chen says, “They sound so simple but they’re very addictive.”
In planning the new location, Krave wants to step up their game with freshly-designed indoor decor and roll out some very special off-menu items for customers in the know. “We’ll be introducing a new noodle soup. It’s my mom’s chicken noodle soup recipe but it’s a little different. Asian style, with clean broth, very flavorful and a ginger kick to it,” shares Chen. “Another off-menu item will be my own recipe for beef noodle soup. It’s off-menu because I usually only make it for my friends and family. It’s time consuming and hard to do in a restaurant environment. I’ll make one batch at a time and once it sells out, it’s gone.”
Chen also has plans to start incorporating sushi rolls and poke bowls into the menu. The new offerings are targeted toward the local workforce in the neighborhood that are looking for a healthy, fresh, flavorful lunch option. However, their number one menu item will always be their Korean-style Fried Chicken.
Krave Asian Fusion is looking at a Quarter 2 opening in 2022 as they fully build out the raw space just off of Palomar Airport Road. In the meantime, San Diegans can trek up to their flagship Irvine restaurant for their KFC cravings. Keep up to date with Krave Asian Fusion on Facebook and Instagram.
